Vacuum Joint With Elastic Sheets for Play-Free Heavy-Load Motion
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Solution Overview
Problem
In ultrahigh vacuum environments, existing mechanisms face challenges in achieving gliding-friction-free, play-free movement while supporting heavy loads, as they often require substantial forces and can lead to contamination and heating due to friction, and there is a conflict between minimizing elastic restoring forces and supporting loads effectively.
Innovation Solution
A joint comprising a supporting part, a mobile part, and a guiding and connecting part with convex shapes, where the guiding and connecting part has greater bending elasticity and reduced thickness, allowing for gliding-friction-free and play-free movement by using thin, elastic sheets that support strong tensile and compressive forces without crumpling, and are designed to define a unique path of motion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a thick bridge is used to support heavy loads, then load-bearing capacity is improved, but elastic flexibility and ease of movement deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge is segmented into multiple thin elastic sheets stacked together, with each sheet contributing to the overall strength while maintaining flexibility. The segmentation allows the structure to achieve high load-bearing capacity through cumulative effect of multiple flexible layers rather than relying on a single thick rigid structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The bridge uses composite construction with multiple elastic sheets stacked and connected together, creating a composite structure that combines the flexibility of thin sheets with the strength of multiple layers working together. This composite approach enables both high load-bearing capacity and elastic flexibility simultaneously.
2Stability of the object's composition
If conventional mechanical joints are used in vacuum, then structural stability is improved, but contamination and friction are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical joints with magnetic coupling between permanent magnets. This substitution eliminates mechanical contact, thereby eliminating friction, wear, and particle generation while maintaining structural stability through magnetic forces. The magnetic coupling provides stable positioning without the harmful effects of mechanical interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The magnetic coupling system creates an inert, contactless interaction environment that prevents contamination. By using magnetic fields instead of mechanical contact, the system maintains the cleanliness of the vacuum environment without introducing particles or contaminants from mechanical wear.
3Ease of operation
If the bridge is made as thin as possible, then ease of movement is improved, but load-bearing capacity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The bridge is divided into multiple thin elastic sheets stacked together. Each individual sheet remains thin and flexible for ease of movement, but the stacked configuration of multiple sheets provides cumulative strength to support heavy loads. The segmentation allows each layer to contribute to both flexibility and strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic sheets are formed with curved or arched geometries that provide structural efficiency. The curvature distributes stresses more effectively across the thin sheets, enabling them to bear heavier loads while maintaining thin profiles that allow easy movement and high elastic flexibility.
4Reliability
If gliding friction is present, then mechanical play is reduced, but wear and heating are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical contact-based positioning with magnetic coupling. The magnetic interaction provides precise positioning without mechanical contact, thereby eliminating both gliding friction and the associated wear and heating. The magnetic field maintains reliable positioning through non-contact forces.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables precise, strong-force movement without mechanical play or gliding friction, suitable for ultrahigh vacuum applications, supporting heavy loads while maintaining a clean environment by using thin, elastic sheets that are rigidly attached to rotating bodies, ensuring a controlled range of motion and reduced contamination.
Implementation Method 1
the guiding and connecting part has a greater bending elasticity than either of the supporting part and the mobile part
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a joint for a device moveable in vacuum, the joint comprising a supporting part, a mobile part and a guiding and connecting part, wherein the mobile part and the supporting part each have at least a region of convex shape, with the regions of convex shape of the mobile part and of the supporting part facing one another and with the guiding and connecting part being arranged, in particular clamped, between the regions of convex shape of the supporting part and of the mobile part, wherein the guiding and connecting part has a greater bending elasticity than either of the supporting part and the mobile part. The invention further relates to a mechanism for moving a device in vacuum, the mechanism comprising a plurality of joints and to a device comprising a plurality of joints and/or a mechanism, with the device being configured to be moved in a vacuum.